Surgical Cable Tensioning Apparatus And Method

A cable tensioning apparatus for generating tension in a cable, the cable tensioning apparatus comprising:

• an elongate shaft assembly having proximal and distal ends and a longitudinal axis extending therebetween;
• a proximal cable guide device mounted to the elongate shaft assembly;
• a distal cable guide device mounted to the elongate shaft assembly, longitudinally spaced from the proximal cable guide device;
• cable guideways of the proximal and distal cable guide devices that are aligned with and longitudinally spaced from each other and spaced from the elongate shaft assembly for receiving the cable therethrough;
• a clamping mechanism of the proximal cable guide device for clamping the cable relative to the proximal cable guide device;
• and
• a drive mechanism housed in the shaft assembly and operable to shift the proximal cable guide device longitudinally in a proximal direction away from the shaft assembly distal end so that with the cable extending through the cable guideways and clamped to the proximal cable guide device, the longitudinally spaced proximal and distal cable guide devices allow an operator to observe tension develop in a length of cable exposed between the longitudinally spaced cable guide devices and spaced from the shaft assembly as the proximal cable guide device is shifted longitudinally in the proximal direction.

A hand-held cable tensioning apparatus, comprising:

• an elongate shaft assembly extending along a longitudinal axis and having proximal and distal ends;
• cable guide devices connected to the shaft assembly, with at least one of the cable guide devices configured to hold the cable and to be shiftable along the shaft assembly longitudinal axis;
• a drive rod of the elongate shaft assembly for being shifted along the longitudinal axis and being connected to the one cable guide device for generating tension in a cable held by the one cable guide device;
• a friction drive mechanism for the drive rod having a collar portion extending about the drive rod;
• and
• a lever actuator of the friction drive mechanism connected to the collar portion and pivotally connected to the shaft assembly such that pivoting the lever actuator causes the collar portion to tilt into driving frictional engagement with the drive rod and to shift longitudinally toward the proximal end of the shaft assembly for generating tension in the cable.

A method for generating tension in a surgical cable, the method comprising:

• securing one end portion of the cable to a surgical connector at a surgical site;
• providing a drive mechanism for shifting an opposite end portion of the cable in a longitudinal direction away from the one end portion;
• supporting an intermediate portion of the cable in radially spaced relation to the drive mechanism to expose the intermediate portion of the cable for viewing by the operator;
• and
• operating the drive mechanism to shift the opposite end portion of the cable in a longitudinal direction away from the one end portion of the cable to generate tension in the cable while maintaining the intermediate portion of the cable in spaced relation to the drive mechanism to avoid interference with the drive mechanism.